In certain types of transportation systems, such as in the state of the art high speed railway and mass and/or rapid transit operations, there is a real need to automatically and dynamically sense and detect a wheel lockup condition in which the hand brake is unintentionally left on in its applied position or due to the seizing up of an electric drive motor. In the past, the maintenance personnel eventually discovered the locked wheel condition, but generally not until significant damage occurs to the affected wheels on the vehicle. For example, in addition to flat spots, the wheels can experience fissures and cracks due to the build-up of excessive heat, which can result in premature wheel failure. Further, the resultant damage caused by an unintentional handbrake left on in the applied position is often covered up by the operating personnel involved in the incident and the resulting impairment is usually blamed on other properly operating equipment or satisfactory functioning vehicle systems. Unfortunately, such situations tend to mask the dereliction and results in costly and unnecessary diagnosis and testing of the sound functioning apparatus.